1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention is related to a vehicle bumper assembly including a bumper beam and a crash box.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vehicle bumper assemblies are known for providing energy absorbing characteristics to a vehicle, and typically include a bumper beam extending laterally across the front or rear of a vehicle for absorbing a frontal or rear impact. The vehicle bumper assemblies also include crash boxes that are fixedly attached to the bumper beam and which extend along an axis A from the bumper beam. A mounting plate is attached to the crash box and defines at least one orifice for receiving a fastener, such as a bolt, screw, or the like. The fastener extends through the orifice of the mounting plate and mates with a mounting surface of the vehicle frame to establish a fixed and secured position of the bumper assembly to the vehicle frame. In this fixed and secured position, the mounting surface and the mounting plate are disposed in compressed and overlaying relationship to one another, and thus the bumper assembly is not designed to move laterally relative to the vehicle frame during an impact. Rather, the crash boxes of the bumper assembly are designed to fold along the axis A upon the frontal or rear impact of the vehicle to reduce a linear deformation of the vehicle frame along the axis A during a frontal or rear impact of the vehicle.
Although the vehicle bumper assemblies are able to reduce linear deformation of the vehicle frame during an impact of the vehicle, there remains a significant and continuing need for a simple design of a bumper assembly that reduces the transfer of lateral forces, defined relative to the axis A, from the bumper assembly to the vehicle frame and thus improves on the energy absorption properties of the prior art vehicle bumper assemblies. Put another way, there remains a significant and continuing need for a simple design of a bumper assembly that reduces lateral deformation of the vehicle frame during an impact.